Published Friday, February 06, 2009

'Party planner to the stars' gives advice to brides

The Times-Herald

When reality TV star DeAnna Pappas of Newnan recently started a new job as a host on the Lifetime TV show "Get Married," she found herself working alongside one of the most famous names in the wedding industry, event planner Colin Cowie. Known as the "party planner to the stars," Cowie has designed events for some of the biggest names in show biz, including Oprah Winfrey, Elton John, Tom Cruise and Jennifer Aniston.

On Jan. 9, Cowie spoke at AmericasMart Atlanta's January market and promoted his new TV show.

Cowie is legendary for the lavish weddings he has planned, some costing as much as $25 million, where cakes of $75,000 are not unheard of.

The event planner spoke about some of his recent weddings, including one last year in Columbia, Mo. He showed slides of elaborate structures built on the family's property to be used just for the wedding day. One of these was a stone façade chapel with a fountain-flanked aisle.

Dinner guests were treated to a meal of Grilled New York Steak by Alfred Portale of Gotham Bar and Grill, a Manhattan restaurant Cowie likes. He noted the wedding had 600 guests and 300 waiters. "The most important thing is service," he said.

The massive wedding cake, a silver leaf design, sat on a base that was the reverse of the cake, giving the illusion of a cake rising from a four-inch pedestal on the floor. Cowie joked that the cake pedestal was, in fact, bolted to the floor because "there's a limit to my magic."

Guests at the wedding danced from midnight to 6 a.m. on a dance floor with a special lighting installation. Cowie said "rock star bartenders" were on hand to make "well-crafted cocktails," and a fireworks show was part of the extravaganza.

"It wouldn't be a wedding without fireworks, would it?" he said.

Fireworks were also part of the fun for a couple who married in Marblehead, Mass., and the bride and groom used an antique canon lit by the bride to kick off the fireworks.

At one of the wedding dinners, guests were ferried across a harbor in vintage boats to enjoy an old-fashioned clambake under a tent it took weeks to install. The bride and groom's initials were on bibs used by guests at the clambake.

At the wedding reception, Cowie used four different designs for the tables. Three used tablecloths -- a nautical stripe, an Aztec-Indian print, a blue toile -- and the fourth featured a plain wooden table with beautiful napkins. Cowie says he likes to mix the designs and even use different floral arrangements. He noted that "it doesn't cost any more to have four different looks."

The cake at this wedding was a masterpiece, with decorations on each tier made from wax molds. The seven-foot-two-inch cake, which required some five to six months of work, looked like antique jasperware.

During a Q&A session with the audience, Cowie noted that his success comes from working with teams of great people, and "my direction always comes from the client."

How far in advance is he booked? Thankfully, he said, he's still booked quite far ahead considering the economy. He likes to work nine months in advance and generally plans about four weddings a year, 8-10 parties, and a couple of weddings where he designs but the staff implements his plan and he doesn't personally attend.

For new brides wanting to assemble a "tabletop wardrobe" of their own, Cowie says to start with a great piece of white china, a couple of different placemats, good silverware, good quality glassware, and then add in other things like colorful tumblers, more placemats and runners. And don't be afraid to mix fine old pieces with items from Crate and Barrel.

One woman wanted to know how he gets around working with churches that may have strict rules about décor. His advice: "Don't take on the Roman Catholic Church," he said with a grin. "It's not going to work." Instead, Cowie suggests brides spend their money and resources where guests will spend the most time.

There's really not anyone he can't work with, Cowie said, but he has one rule he follows without exception: "If you make anyone on my staff cry, you get your check and your contract back."

Cowie is also the author of a new wedding planning book, "Colin Cowie Wedding Chic."

"I was so impressed with the respect he shows toward his employees and how if you make one of them cry, you will get your check and contract back in the mail," said Newnan resident Susan West, who attended the Cowie presentation. To me, he shows it's not all about the money."